COVID-19 Trend Stabilizing But Extra Vigilance is Needed, Says DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines, though a press release published today (Thursday), February 18, 2021, stated that the COVID-19 trend is stabilizing but noted that extra vigilance is needed to retain the trend and to continue reopening the economy.

According to the DOH, during the holiday season, a rise in cases in some areas in the country had been observed, however, the department reported that it is now seeing a plateau in the number of COVID-19 cases.

“As of February 15, the country has recorded a total of 550,860 COVID-19 cases, of which 27,588 or 5% of the cases remain active. The active case rate is an improvement from the 8-9% active cases reported previously,” the department further explained, adding: “The country’s recovery rate is also at 92.9% which is a good indicator in the country’s management of COVID-19 cases.”

During a DOH kapihan session, Director Alethea De Guzman of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau also made mention that “the epidemic curve shows we are doing so much better now.” De Guzman, however, added, “The message remains, we cannot let down our guards.”

In the same press release, DOH also disclosed that while most regions are showing improvements, the it is closely monitoring Regions VII, XII and XIII, except Agusan del Sur. DOH is also bared that this past two weeks, it saw a slight increase in cases in Region 10.

Furthermore, Dr. Guido David of OCTA Research Group also pointed out that vigilance is still needed.

“Border restrictions may be very important to prevent other variants from coming into the country. Ultimately, it’s not because you have the variant or not. The messaging is the same: we still need to be vigilant,” said Dr. David.

Read the Full Press Release from the DOH

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Source: Department of Health (Philippines)| Official Facebook Page, Department of Health| Press Release